As a child, growing up in a 'backwoods', rural environment my surroundings were primitive but never hostile.

Last Fireoil on canvas16 x 20 inches

Dead Falloil on canvas16 x 20 inches

Top of the Ridgeoil on canvas20 x 24 inches

Broke Downoil on canvas20 x 24 inches

Nature spoke to me. I was empathetic to those special places and would seek out those places to invoke the emotions associated with them. Venturing further into my environment it was easy to become intimate with certain areas of the wilderness. I have worked to capture this sense of childlike wonderment, magic and connectivity to nature in this current series of paintings created in the high country of northwestern North Carolina.